Ganging means for chair

ABSTRACT

The specification discloses a chair having a seat, back and wire rod frame. The chair rests on four glides, all of which have fastening intelligence such that the chairs of this invention can be ganged together. The glides on one runner have facing fastening intelligence while those on the other runner have fastening intelligence facing away from one another, such that fore and aft and lateral movement of joined chairs is eliminated.

United States Patent [191 Faiks et al.

[4 1 Oct. 1, 1974 GANGING MEANS FOR CHAIR [7 51 Inventors: Frederick S.Faiks, Comstock Park; Randall P. Buhk, Wyoming, both of Mich.

[73] Assignee: Steeicase Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich.

[22] Filed: Oct. 25, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 300,594

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 111,429, Feb. 1,1971, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 297/248, 297/239 [51] Int. Cl A47c 3/04, A47c 1/124 [58]Field of Search 297/239, 248, 445; 312/108, 111

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,028,207 4/1962 Darnell312/111 3,278,227 10/1966 Rowland 297/248 X FQREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 750,742 1/1967 Canada 297/248 Primary ExaminerCasmir A.Nunberg Attorney, Agent, or FirmPrice, Heneveld, l-luizenga & Cooper [57] ABSTRACT The specification discloses a chair having a seat, back andwire rod frame. The chair rests on four glides, all of which havefastening intelligence such that the chairs of this invention can beganged together. The glides on one runner have facing fasteningintelligence while those on the other runner have fastening intelligencefacing away from one another, such that fore and aft and lateralmovement of joined chairs is eliminated.

4 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures PATENTED UB1! 89H Mimi FIG. 3

FMENTEDBBH m4 mean FIG. 5

GANGING MEANS FOR CHAIR CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This is adivisional application of parent application Ser. No. 111,429, filedFeb. I, 1971, and entitled Ganging Means For Chair, now US. Pat. No.3,724,897.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to chairs,particularly chairs having wire rod frames. In its more'specificaspects, it relates to such chairs which can be ganged together orstacked vertically.

The fastening means provided for ganging prior art wire rod chairstogether suffer from numerous drawbacks. For example, the chairdisclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,278,227 utilizes a fastening member locatednear the front of a bottom runner and a second fastening member locatedon the side of the rear leg. If the chair warps slightly with age,considerable pressure is put on each of these two fastening members, andit is very possible for one of them to spring loose. Indeed, it ispossible that only one of them may be fastenable after the chair haswarped. Furthermore, an independent glide member is required near therear of the runner on the chair.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The chair of the present invention embraces anumber of related concepts which obviate the difficulties and drawbacksset forth above. A pair of wire rods form an integral rear leg and backsupport assembly. Each of the rods extends generally vertically to forma rear leg, and both of the rods then diverge inwardly from the tops ofthe rear legs along the rear edge of the seat. These portions meet andthen extend vertically upwardly together, rigidly joined, to form anupright portion. The rods then diverge outwardly and upwradly from thisupright portion to form a back support having a generally U-shapedconfiguration. This centrally located upright portion, connecting thechair back to the chair seat, provides for increased flexibility in theback, and accordingly increased comfort.

In another of its aspects, the invention contemplates the use of a wirerod frame having an integral seat support, leg assembly and backsupport. The seat support comprises a wire rod extending laterally alongthe rear edge of the seat and forwardly along each side thereof. The legassembly comprises downwardly depending front and rear legs joinedtogether by a bottom runner, the front legs extending downwardly fromthe front edge of each forwardly extending portion of the seat support.Theback support comprises a converging portion formed by wire rodsconverging inwardly from the tops of the rear legs and extending alongthe rear edge of the seat. These converging rod portions join to formthe upright portion and outwardly diverging U-shaped back supportreferred to above. The converging portions are rigidly joined to thelaterally extending portion of the seat support. To enhance the beautyof the chair, this integral frame can be formed out of a singlecontinuous wire rod, or a plurality of rods welded together in endwiseabutment to give the appearance of a continuous wire rod.

The chair back contemplated by this invention includes a groove in itsbottom edge and extending partially up its side edge. The shape of theback outlined by these grooved edges conforms to that of the generallyU-shaped back support referred to above such that the groove embracesthe wire rod back support.

The chair set includes a downwardly depending tab at either side thereofwhich enters into mating engagement with a slot in a. flange whichdepends inwardly from the forwardly extending side rods of the seatsupport referred to above. The front of the chair seat comprises a lipwhich curls downwardly over a front rod which is welded at its ends tothe forwardly extending side portions of the seat support. This frontlip has a generally V-shaped cross section such that the base of the V"does not actually contact the wire rod unless force is applied to theseat. This results in secure fastening and a slight flexibility forabsorbing shocks, such as are frequently applied to chair seats.

In the chair of the present invention, glides are provided whichpositively prevent fore and aft movement. The chair includes wire rodsextending along the floor between the front and rear legs to definechair runners.

Each of the chair runners includes front and rear glides. Those on onerunner have facing fastening intelligence, while those on the secondrunner have fastening intelligence facing away from one another. Theglides on the second runner are more closely spaced, such that they canbe mated with the glides on the first runner of an adjacent chair toprevent fore and aft movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other objects and advantagesof this invention will be understood and appreciated by reference to theappended specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the chair back, seat and wirerod frame;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled chair;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the wire rod frame; FIG. 4 is a front view ofthe wire rod frame; FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the wire rod frametaken along plane V-V of FIG. 4',

FIG. 6 is a front view of the chair back; FIG. 7 is a side view of thechaiir back, FIG. 8 is a view taken along line VIIIVIII of FIG. FIG. 9is a plan view of the chair seat; FIG. 10 is a side view of the chairseat; FIG. 11 is a view taken along line XI-XI of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a view taken along line XII-XII of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a view taken along line XIII-XIII of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a broken side view of :a first one of the two runners on thewire rod frame;

FIG. 15 is a broken side view of the second one of the two runners onthe wire rod frame; and

FIG. 16 is a broken plan view of adjacent runners on adjacent chairs asthey are being moved into mating engagement.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the preferred embodiment, the chair of thisinvention comprises a frame 10, a chair seat 50, a chair back 60 andfour ganging glides 71, 75, 81 and 85 (FIG. 1). Frame has been dividedinto three sub-assemblies, including a seat support 20, a leg assembly30, and a back support 40 (FIG. 3).

It has been found that frame 10 can be conveniently constructed of fiveseparate wire rods. However, the beauty of the frame is greatly enhancedby welding three of these rods together in endwise abutment to form, orat least give the appearance of a single contin uous wire rod. Two ofthese three rods form the right side and left side of the chairrespectively. Thus, each rod defines side rod 22 of seat support 20,front leg 31, runner 32, rear leg 33 and half of back support 40. Thethird rod defines the rear support 21 of seat support 20. One of theremaining two rods, a front seat support rod 23 is hidden from view inthe fully assembled chair as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 1 and 2.Seat stretcher 27 is also hidden from view. Thus, the fully assembledchair appears to be constructed of one continuous wire rod and a singlebrace rod 34 (FIG. 2).

Seat support comprises a rear support rod 21 which extends laterallyacross the back edge of the seat area (FIG. 5). Side support rods 22then extend forwardly from the ends of rear rod 21 along the side edgesof the seat area. While side support rod 22 is preferably only a portionofa rod, it is referred to as a rod for purposes of convenience andbecause it could in fact be a single rod welded to other rods. A frontsup port rod 23 is welded at its end edges to side rods 22 and extendslaterally across the front of seat 50 to provide support therefor. Aflange 24 is rigidly secured, as by welding, to each side rod 22 andextends inwardly therefrom. Each flange 24 includes a pair of slots 25and holes 26 which facilitate the securance of seat 50 to seat support20. Preferably, slot 25 is formed at that portion of flange 24 which isnarrower such that when flange 24 is welded to side rod 22, a slotremains, defined by side rod 22 on one side and flange 24 on the other.Finally, stretcher 27 extends from one side support 22 to the other,near the front thereof.

Seat 50 is molded of any suitable plastic such as polypropylene so as toconform to the shape of the human buttocks. It includes a pair ofdownwardly depending tabs 51 on either side thereof (FIGS. 9, 10 and13). Tabs 51 are dimensioned and located such that they fit into matingengagement with slots 25 when seat 50 is placed on seat support 20.

Seat 50 also includes three bosses 52 on either side thereof and betweenadjacent tabs 51 (FIG. 9). These correspond in position to the holes 26in flanges 24 such that when seat 50 is in position on seat support 20,

screws can be passed upwardly through holes 26 and into bosses 52 tofurther facilitate the securance of seat 50 to seat support 20.

Seat 50 also includes a front lip 53 which extends across the front edgethereof (FIG. 9) and which curls down around front support rod 23 in themanner shown in FIG. 12. Lip 53 extends around the front corners to formside lip portions 54 (FIG. 9) which also curl down around front support'rod 23, but in the manner indicated in FIG. 11. Front lip 53 and sidelips 54 not only act to hide front support rod 23 from view, but alsocooperate with front support rod 23 to hold seat 50 securely in place.

As can be seen by reference to FIG. 12, front lip 53 has a generallyV-shaped cross section such that the base of the V" does not actuallyabut rod 23. Rather. only the sides of the V" embrace rod 23. However.when force is applied to seat 50, as when a person sits or bouncesthereon. lip 53 expands slightly and slides rearwardly on rod 23, thebase of the V moving toward abutment with rod 23. Thus, this generallyV- shaped cross section for front lip 53 provides seat 50 with a slightshock absorbing resiliency.

Leg assembly 30 includes a pair of front legs 31 which extend downwardlyfrom the front of side rods 22 of seat support 20 (FIG. 3). Runner 32then extends rearwardly from the bottom of front leg 31 and rear leg 33extends upwardly from the rear of runner 32. The junction between thebase of front leg 31 and the front of runner 32 is made through anoutwardly bent portion 35. Bent portion 35 sets runners 32 to theoutside of the outer dimensions of seat support 20 and therebyfacilitates the stacking of the chairs of this invention. one on top ofthe other. Leg assembly 30 is completed by a brace rod 34 extendinglaterally between the front legs 31 in order to give the entire frame 10additional strength and rigidity.

Back support 40 begins with a converging portion 41 (FIG. 5). The rodswhich form rear legs 33, as well as the right and left sides of thechair generally, are bent at the top of rear legs 33 so as to convergeinwardly along the rear edge of seat 50, closely adjacent to rear seatsupporting rod 21 (FIG. 5). The converging portions 4] meet near therear center of the chair and are bent upwardly in abutting fashion toform an upright portion 42 (FIG. 4). The abutting rods are rigidlysecured together as by welding at this point. The converging portions 41bend outwardly slightly at 41a before actually being joined together toform upright portion 42 (FIGS. 5 and 3). This keeps upright portion 42from engaging a persons buttocks or lower back. The rod portions 43 thendiverge outwardly and upwardly from the top of upright 42 to therebyform a generally U- shaped back frame to which back 60 may be secured.

Outwardly and upwardly diverging rod portions 43 are adapted to receiveand secure back 60. Back 60 is molded of a suitable plastic materialsuch as polypropylene. The mold is designed to provide back'60 with agradually curving contour to support the human back (FIG. 7).Additionally, back 60 includes a groove 61 extending across its bottomedge and up its side edges (FIGS. 6 and 7). Groove 61 terminates ateither side edge in a downwardly opening hole 62 (FIGS. 6, 7 and 8).Back 60 is then slipped down onto diverging and upwardly extending rodportions 43 with grooves 61 embracing these rods and with the ends ofrods 43 extending upwardly into holes 62. Groove 61 is reinforced byribs 63, at least some of which have arced bottom edges to receive rods43. Preferably, a small amount of epoxy or other suitable adhesive isplaced in holes 62 prior to assembly such that the ends of rods 43remain firmly embedded therein. A mechanical fastening would also beacceptable at this point.

The chair is provided with unique fastener glides 71, 75, 81 and 85which are fastened to runners 32 by means of screws (FIGS. 14, 15 and16). Glides 71 and 81 have male fastening intelligence and are referredto as front male glide and rear male glide respectively. Glides and 85have corresponding female fastening intelligence and are referred to asthe front female glide and rear female glide respectively. Front maleglide 71 and rear male glide 81 are fastened on one of the runners 32with their fastening intelligence facing each other. Front female glide75 and rear female glide 85 are fastened on the other runner 32. moreclosely together than are glides 71 and 81, and with their fasteningintelligence facing away from each other. In this manner a pair offemale fastener glides 75 and 85 on the rail of one chair fit snuggly tothe insides of male glides 71 and 81 on the rail of an adjacent chair tothereby hold both chairs together, and prevent their fore and aftmovement with respect to each other. It should be noted that since FIGS.14 and 15 are both side views, the front of runner 32 in FIG. 14 appearson the right while the front of runner 32 in FIG. 15 appears on theleft.

The male fastening intelligence of front male glides 71 comprises aprojection 72 of V" shaped cross section and having a tab 73 forming theleading edge thereof (FIG. 14). Projection 72 and tab 73 extend awayfrom runner 32 at an acute angle thereto (FIG. 16). However, theprojection 72 and tab 73 eventually reach a turning point and turnsharply away to form a bumper portion 74 which is inclined at an obtuseangle to rod 32. Bumper portion 74 also has a generally V shaped crosssection. Rear male glide 81 similarly includes a projection 72 andbumper portion 74 inclined at an acute angle and obtuse anglerespectively with respect to runner 32. Because of the similarity inparts, the numbers used for these parts are the same for both front maleglide 71 and rear male glide 81. However, rear male glide 81 does notinclude a projecting tab 73.

Front female fastening glide 75 includes a recess 76 of a generallyV-shaped cross section for mating with projection 72-of glide 71 on therunner 32 of an adjacent chair (FIG. 15 Additionally, it includes a slot77 at the base of recess 76 for receiving tab 73. Recess 76 and slot 77are disposed an an acute angle to their runner 32 in the same manner asare projection 72 and tab 73 (FIG. 16). Finally, front female glide 75includes a recessed bumper portion 78 which is inclined at an obtuseangle to runner 32. Rear female glide 85 includes a similar recess 76and bumper portion 78, but does not include a slot 77.

FIG. 16 shows the adjacent runners 32 ofa pair of adjacent chairs, madein accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention, beingmoved toward each other in an abutting manner. The bumper portions 74and 78 of the adjacent glides are the first portions to abut. These haveV-shaped cross sections corresponding to the generally V-shaped crosssections of projections 72 and recesses 76 and thereby act to guide theadjacent fastening glides into proper mating engagement. When engagementis completed, tab 73 of front male glide 71 will reside in slot 77 offront female glide 75. Similarly, projection 72 will reside withinrecess 76. Engagement of rear male glides 81 and rear female glides 85is comparable.

Because of the fact that both female fastening glides 75 and 85 haveintelligence facing outwardly while both male fastening glides 71 and 81have intelligence facing inwardly, the adjacent chairs are firmly heldtogether and are prevented from moving fore and aft. Lateral movement isprevented by the fact that the mating portions 72 and 76 of matingglides are inclined at'an acute angle to their respective runners. Thetab 73 on front male glide 71 acts to provide added, positiveengagement. It should be not-ed that various ones of the glides could berelocated. so long as both of the glides on a given runner 32 eitherfaced away from each other or toward each other.

Thus, in accordance with this invention. a wire rod chair is providedhaving a number of unique features. including the wire rod frame itself.The beauty of the frame is greatly enhanced by the fact that it appears.when the chair is assembled, that the frame is made of only twocontinuous wire rods, one being brace rod 34. The chair seat can bereadily secured to the frame with the unique seat fastening means.Similarly. the back can readily be fastened to the back support portionof the frame. The back includes a unique groove which not onlyfacilitates this fastening operation, but which also lends a decorative,half-hidden appearance to the wire rod frame. Furthermore, the uniqueback support construction of the frame gives the back more flexibilitythan exists in current wire rod chairs in that the back is supported ona central, upwardly extending upright portion about which the back cantwist slightly. The chairs can be stacked, since runners 32 are disposedto the outside of the side seat supports 22 due to the bend at thebottom of front legs 33.

Finally, the unique combination fastening and glide means outlined aboveis yet another significant contribution of this invention. By providingtwo fasteners on a straight rod portion of the wire rod frame, thecontinued workability of the fasteners is insured, regardless of whetheror not the wire rod frame warps slightly with old age. Warpage will takeplace mainly at bent portions, not along straight rod portions.Furthermore, positive fastening is provided even though each of thecombination glide-fasteners includes fastening intelligence on only oneside thereof. Finally, by providing two combination glide-fasteners oneach runner, applicant has eliminated the necessity of any additionalglides or fasteners.

It will be understood that the above is merely a preferred embodiment ofthe invention and that many changes and alterations can be made thereofwithout departing from its spirit and broader aspects.

The embodiment of an invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A chair comprising: a wire rod frame having a pair of runners at thesides thereof from which the front and rear legs of said chair extendupwardly; said runners in cluding front and rear glides thereon, eachglide on a first runner having fastening intelligence facing the otherglide, and each glide on a second runner having fastening intelligencepointed away from the other glide; said second runner glides beingpositioned closer to one another than said first runner glides wherebywhen two chairs are placed in closely adjacent fashion, said fasteningintelligence on said first runner glides on one chair cooperate withsaid fastening intelligence on said second runner glides on the otherchair to hold the chairs together and prevent their 'fore-and-aft andlateral movement with respect to each other.

2. The chair of claim 1 in which the front glide on one runner and therear glide on one runner are male fasteners whose fastening intelligencecomprises a projection from one end thereof which is inclined at anacute angle to said runner; said front glide on'the other runner and therear glide on the other runner comprises a female fastener whosefastening intelligence comprises outwardly from said projection andrecess respectively, said bumper portion being inclined at an obtuseangle to said runner; said bumper portions of adjacent male and femaleglides on adjacently positioned chairs being the first portions of saidadjacent glides to abut when said fasteners are forced together. andsaid abutting bumper portions acting to guide the fasteners into matingengagement at said acute angel portions.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Certificate Patent No.3,838,884 Patented October 1, 1974 Frederick S. Faiks and Randall P.Buhk Application having been made by Frederick S. Faiks and Randall P.Buhk, the inventors named in the patent above identified, and SteelcaseInc., Grand Rapids, Mich., the assignee, for the issuance of acertificate under the provisions of Title 35, Section 256, of the UnitedStates Code, deleting the name of Randall P. Buhk as a joint inventor,and a showing and proof of facts satisfying the requirements of the saidsection having been submitted, it is this 28th day of April 1981,certified that the name of the said Randall P. Buhk is hereby deletedfrom the said patent as a joint inventor with the said Frederick S.Faiks.

FRED W. SHERLING,

Associate Solicitor.

1. A chair comprising: a wire rod frame having a pair of runners at thesides thereof from which the front and rear legs of said chair extendupwardly; said runners including front and rear glides thereon, eachglide on a first runner having fastening intelligence facing the otherglide, and each glide on a second runner having fastening intelligencepointed away from the other glide; said second runner glides beingpositioned closer to one another than said first runner glides wherebywhen two chairs are placed in closely adjacent fashion, said fasteningintelligence on said first runner glides on one chair cooperate withsaid fastening intelligence on said second runner glides on the otherchair to hold the chairs together and prevent their fore-and-aft andlateral movement with respect to each other.
 2. The chair of claim 1 inwhich the front glide on one runner and the rear glide on one runner aremale fasteners whose fastening intelligence comprises a projection fromone end thereof which is inclined at an acute angle to said runner; saidfront glide on the other runner and the rear glide on the other runnercomprises a female fastener whose fastening intelligence comprises arecess for mating said projection, said recess being inclined atapproximately the same acute angle to said runner.
 3. The chair of claim2 in which said projection on said front male glide includes a tabforming the leading edge of said projection and said recess on saidfront female glide comprises a mating slot at the base of said recessfor receiving said tab.
 4. The chair of claim 3 in which each of saidmale and female glides comprises a bumper portion extending outwardlyfrom said projection and recess respectively, said bumper portion beinginclined at an obtuse angle to said runner; said bumper portions ofadjacent male and female glides on adjacently positioned chairs beingthe first portions of said adjacent glides to abut when said fastenersare forced together, and said abutting bumper portions acting to guidethe fasteners into mating engagement at said acute angel portions.